Louisiana Thwarts Troy Rally

Saturday, November 23

Lafayette, La.

4 p.m.

Troy University

3-8 , 2-5

Louisiana

9-2 , 6-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Troy

Louisiana

11/23/2024 8:46:00 PM | Football

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By: Troy Athletics Communications

LAFAYETTE, La. – Troy scored 16 consecutive points across the third and fourth quarters but couldn't dig out of an early hole as Louisiana held off the Trojans, 51-30, on Saturday at Cajun Field in Sun Belt Conference play.

The final score was not indicative of the closeness of the game, as Troy pulled with seven, 37-30, with 11:31 to play in the game on Trae Swartz's first career touchdown reception. However, Robert Williams returned the ensuing kickoff 96 yards for a Louisiana touchdown, and two possessions later, the Trojans turned the ball over on downs on their own 3-yard line, which allowed the Cajuns (9-2, 6-1 SBC) to punch in a late score.

Troy (3-8, 2-5) jumped out to a 14-7 lead after the opening quarter of play, the Trojans' third straight game with a double-digit scoring quarter, but Louisiana responded with a 27-point second quarter to take a 34-14 lead into the break.

Similar to the Trojans' response at Arkansas State a month ago, Troy came out of the locker room inspired. Following a Louisiana field goal, Brody Dalton caught his third touchdown pass in the last four games, and Swartz followed with his score 10 minutes later; the Trojans converted the two-point conversion on both scores to turn a 23-point deficit into a one-score game.

Three different tight ends found the end zone for the Trojans on the night after Jackson Worley tied the game at 7-all with his first career score with just over four minutes to play in the first quarter. Devonte Ross, who finished with eight catches for 95 yards, scored from 30 yards out, his 11^th of the season, on the final play of the opening quarter.

Ross moved within 23 yards of becoming just the sixth player in Troy history to reach the 1,000-yard receiving mark in a season, while his 11 touchdown receptions are the most by a Trojan since Eric Thomas' 12 in 2013.

Caldwell completed 26-of-42 passes for 230 yards and four touchdowns, plus a pair of interceptions. Damien Taylor led Troy's ground game with 67 yards on 16 carries.

Chandler Fields completed 18-of-24 passes for 323 yards and two touchdowns for the Cajuns, with Lance LeGendre leading the way with six catches for 109 yards and a score. Bill Davis rushed for 64 yards and three touchdowns on 19 carries.

Up Next
Troy closes out its season next Saturday against Southern Miss at The Vet. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. as Troy honors its 12 seniors for Senior Day.

Quotable – Head Coach Gerad Parker
"As crazy as this game was and the ride this season has been, I could not be more proud of the way that the team came out in the third quarter to get us back into this football game. There are so many good things, but there weren't enough good things early. They got up on us, and then, some self-inflicted things made it so we could not get up on them in the second half.

"We will honor 12 of our guys on Saturday at The Vet for the last time. No matter how this has gone, all of the transition, and all of the 'new,' we still have an obligation to honor those guys and their families while also honoring our future. We are going to spend some time in Thanksgiving and get ready to put a product out there at The Vet that people can be proud of."

Notable
• Troy has now scored 124 points over the last 14 quarters of play; the Trojans had scored 136 points over the previous 30 quarters.

• Troy ran a season-high 78 plays; it's the second straight game setting a season-high. Troy has topped 70 plays in four straight games after running 58 or fewer plays in the previous six games.

• Jackson Worley caught his first career touchdown pass to open the scoring for the Trojans in the first quarter; it was a 4-yard pass from Matthew Caldwell.

• Matthew Caldwell has thrown a touchdown pass in 11 career games and six games this season. He has multiple touchdown passes in seven career games and four this season. He finished the game with four touchdown passes, the first Troy QB to do so since Gunnar Watson's four TDs at ULM in 2023.

• Devonte Ross caught eight passes for 95 yards; he now has a reception in 18 straight games.

• Devonte Ross moved into sole possession of 13th place all-time in Troy history with 124 career receptions and a tie for 11th with 14 career touchdown receptions.

• Devonte Ross' 71 single-season receptions moved into a tie for seventh place with Jerrel Jernigan; he is 13 off Jerrel's single-season record of 84 in 2010. He also moved into 10th place on the Troy single-season list with 973 receiving yards ... he is 27 yards shy of becoming just the sixth Trojan to reach 1,000 yards in a season.

• Devonte Ross' 30-yard touchdown reception on the final play of the first quarter was his 11th of the season and 14th of his career. He has a touchdown reception in eight games this season and in 11 games in his career.

• Devonte Ross' eight games with a touchdown reception are the most since Eric Thomas had a touchdown in nine games in 2013; Thomas finished the season with 12 touchdown receptions, the most by a Trojans since 1968 (Danny Grant).

• Trae Swartz caught his first career pass, a 20-yard reception to pick up a first Troy for the Trojans on their third drive of the game. His second catch of the season with his first career touchdown, a 1-yard strike on fourth down to pull Troy within seven in the fourth quarter.

• Landon Parker attempted two passes from his wide receiver position; he completed one, a 29-yard pass to quarterback Matthew Caldwell. It was Caldwell's first catch since his senior year of high school.

• With its 14-point first quarter; Troy has scored 14-plus points in a quarter in three straight games.

• Troy's 14-point first quarter marked its highest-scoring opening quarter this season; the Trojans had scored seven points in three games.

• Three different Troy tight ends caught a touchdown pass in the game -- Brody Dalton, Trae Swartz and Jackson Worley.

• Brody Dalton's third-quarter touchdown was the third of his career and all three have come in the last four games.

• Troy was perfect in the red zone (3-of-3) after entering the week third in the country having converted 28-of-29 attempts.

• Troy recorded two sacks in the game; the 25th time over the last three seasons its had multiple sacks in a game. The Trojans entered the week ranked 24th nationally in the category.

• Troy held Louisiana to 95 rushing yards in the game; Troy's second straight opponent to rush for fewer than 100 yards and the third this season.

• Scott Taylor Renfroe moved into a tie for 16th place all-time with Ryan Kay with 165 career points scored after scoring two against Louisiana.

• Robert Cole moved into 13th place in Troy history with 92 career punt attempts after four punts against Louisiana.

• Louisiana's kickoff return for a touchdown was the first allowed by Troy since a 100-yard return by Jaylond Adams from Southern Miss in 2019.